ASHLAND, Va. – Senior Shawn Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) had three hits and two RBI, and the Yellow Jackets scored their first five runs with two away, as the No. 20 Randolph-Macon baseball team defeated the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford 7-3 on a chilly Friday afternoon.

The Basics

Score: #20 Randolph-Macon 7, Pitt-Bradford 3

Site/Venue: Ashland, Va./Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park

Records: R-MC 3-0, UPB 0-1

How It Happened

• For the third straight game, the Yellow Jackets scored in the first inning. Senior Ryan Duphorn (Erial, N.J./Paul VI) drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a base hit by freshman Ricky Gannett (Newark, Del./St. Mark's). With one away, senior Reece Yeargain (Chester, Va./Benedictine) hit a fly ball to right that was deep enough to move Duphorn to third. On a full count, Nickles hit a high popup on the infield that dropped untouched for a single. Duphorn scored and Gannett went to third. Nickles headed toward second and was caught in a rundown. Gannett broke for the plate and beat the throw to give R-MC a 2-0 advantage.
• The first two Yellow Jackets were retired on two pitches in the third before Yeargain drew a walk, stole second and scored on a base hit by Nickles to make it a 3-0 contest.
• R-MC added to its lead in the fourth. With two away, Gannett singled and went to third on a bloop double to left center by senior Mike Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge). Yeargain delivered a single to right center to plate Gannett and Mike Nickles to give the home team a 5-0 lead.
• The Panthers scored twice in the fifth and once in the seventh to make it a two-run deficit before the Yellow Jackets responded in the bottom of the seventh. Yeargain reached on an error and Shawn Nickles drew a walk. Sophomore pinch-hitter JT Fitzpatrick (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) laid down a sacrifice to move both runners into scoring position. Senior Cole Grinde (Woodford, Va./Caroline) singled through a drawn-in infield to plate both runners and make the score 7-3.

By The Numbers

• Shawn Nickles reached four times, going 3 for 4 with a walk, one run and two RBI.
• Grinde finished with two hits and two RBI. Gannett had two hits and two runs. Yeargain had two runs and two RBU.
• Junior John Reynolds, Jr. (Bumpass, Va./Louisa) earned the win to make his record 1-0. In his second start of the season, he tossed four scoreless frames before allowing a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, one of which was earned. He surrendered two hits, walked one and fanned four.
• Freshman Cam Furman (Midlothian, Va./Midlothian) tossed two innings with two hits and one run. Senior Tyler Dunn (Salisbury, Md./James M. Bennett) worked the final two innings with one hit, no runs, one walk and three strikeouts to secure the win.

Up Next

Randolph-Macon will entertain fourth-ranked Cortland on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. UPB and Cortland will face off at 11 a.m. on Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park.